04/26/2017 PLAN, PRAY AND PLANT GARDENS
JEREMIAH 29:4-5 Thus say the Lord of hosts, the GOD of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. [Revised Standard translation]
Summary
Jeremiah 29 is a letter to the exiles. It is a letter that tells a people how to survive in captivity, under a government not to their liking. It is a letter written to a people during an administration that believed in deportations—for many Jews were carried away during various periods from Jerusalem to Babylon. Many sons, daughters, elders and priests and prophets were deported. The sudden régime change, political shift and movement were unsettling to the Jewish people. The people were unnerved. It looked like time had gone backward to Egyptian times, during the time of Abraham, because the people found themselves in slavery once again. The people felt abandoned, afraid and lost. So, Jeremiah pens a letter from GOD outlining a recipe for survival.
First, Jeremiah tells the people upfront that they simply have to face facts. Their stay in Babylon will not be short. The administration confronting them will not go away---not in 100 days, not in a year, not in 3 years, or many, many years. Their administrative captivity would last at least 70 years! So, the people had to stop looking back and start dealing with their new reality. They had to stop their useless complaining and start thinking strategically.
Second, the letter tells the Jewish people that to survive they must build, plan, be productive and re-establish their relationship to GOD. They are to build homes, plant gardens and eat their produce, marry, multiply, stay healthy, increase and not decrease. They people must pray and work for peace (verse 7). They must pray and seek the welfare of the city in which they were now living because its welfare is now tied to theirs. (Verse 7) In other words, simply throwing up their hands and disentangling themselves from the politics around them would not be wise. If anything, they need to become even more involved with the welfare of their cities, towns and neighbors. Jeremiah tells the captives that GOD still has a plan for them (verse 11), but the people would have need to seek and wait on the LORD.
Third, Jeremiah cautions the people not to listen to false prophets or lies (i.e., fake news.) Jeremiah tells them: Don’t be deceived! Instead, they are to turn to “the word of the LORD” (verse 20). They must work hard and have faith in GOD. Jeremiah tells the people that if they seek the LORD in earnest, HE will and find and deliver them.